Fun And Games
by Chryo
Summary: lives are intertwined as 3 people travel to Japan to participate in Angelic Layer. Fate, you are one strange mutha. (some innuendo)
1. CHICAGO and the AIRPORT

Fanfiction - what a despicable thing. Hah!  
Angelic Layer  
  
Angelic Layer is copyright CLAMP. I don't use any of the characters, except in passing, but I guess they're copyright CLAMP too.  
  
  
CHICAGO and the AIRPORT: City of Hope, Gateway To Something New.  
Ken kicked the black-and-white TV heartlessly, proceeding to collapse haphazardly on the wooden floor.  
"Why me? Why always me?" He waved some chip bags away with his left hand, and glanced past his body to the TV. On it was the latest Angel Battle. "God, I can't believe we have such violent filth in the world today. Honestly. I'm surprised there haven't been riots for Angelic Layer, like with Beanie Babies, or Furbies.  
Ken glanced at the dusty map posted on the door. There were two red pins; one approximately in his birthplace in Tokyo; the other, on his hometown since he was 3, Chicago. His mother moved there after the divorce, to escape "bad memories." Ironically enough, he was from Chicago, and she from Japan.  
"Hey, mom!" No answer. "OI! Okaasan!" Still no answer. "Dammit. She better be working." He stood up, heaving his body into the air clumsily. He had not left the house in days, and his facial hair had left him looking sick and worn. Stumbling over to the black-and-white TV, a crazy idea entered his mind.  
"Hikaru... win!" Ken Futori smiled, and if his mother was there, he figured she'd be deadly afraid.  
  
-*-  
  
At the fast-food joint that day, Ken was smiling, clean shaven. Not much got done that day -- his co-workers were busy huddling in the corner, crying and asking for a quick and painless death. There was always a cheerful "would you like fries with that?" to accompany an order, and it was so nice, the joint made twice its normal allowance, despite it being a one-man show.  
"Dude," muttered Taisuke, a close friend and somewhat a mentor to Ken. His perfect crew-cut shone in the halogen, and although he was wearing a uniform, he definitely had a unique feel. "What's up witchoo?"  
"I'm gonna be in Angelic Layer." Ken grinned. Taisuke blinked, confused.  
"Angelic Layer? Sounds like some girly thing." Ken shrugged. "Seriously, dude, it don't sound coo' to me."  
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna save up enough to go back to Japan anyways."  
"DEFINITELY not coo'." Taisuke took an order, then retreated from the register to call it quits for the night. It was 11 o'clock, Chicago time. Chicago time was not like real time; it always felt behind. It was in the back of the world, whereas Japan was in the forefront. He never felt like he belonged here. Taisuke came from a prominent medical family in Kyoto; he left when he was 7. He came to this place, where Angelic Layer was a quirky cute thing on the news and international satellite, this city, with Futori-san's family. He held deep respect for them: they had to struggle, where he did not.  
At the payphone outside, he stopped, entered the booth, and began to dial. His fingers knew the numbers better than his mind.  
  
Ring.  
  
Ring.  
  
"Aunt? Oh, hi, sorry to bother you so late. Er, early. I'm glad you picked up; I want to come home to Japan. I miss all my old friends. It's been so long... yes, thank you very much."  
  
Click.  
  
-*-  
  
The room was deathly quiet. Michigo Futori clicked the lights, hoping the buzz would do something to ease her nerves. It did not. She sighed; that boy Ken. Was he working again? She sure hoped so. His recent depression, a logical follow-up to illness, had taken its toll on the Futori Family Economics. The hospital bill was tremendous, and so was the increased amount of food. But she had to pay; they were all working hard. Maybe, if things progressed right, Ken would be back in school by the end of the week.  
There was a note on the table. In English. Michigo sighed again, but this one was much more lighthearted. "Be back at midnight. Going to go back to Japan, win us money." The signature was Japanese. Gaku-chan. Michigo lay the note down, confused. Win? Was there a band contest? Ken was a great bassist, but he wasn't even in a band, and bass is just back-up. "Why, oh why won't he learn guitar?"  
No, that probably wasn't it. It was in Japan; they had contests all the time in this 'hood.' She hated here. She wanted to go back too. Maybe Ken knew something she didn't; maybe they could go back, maybe she could find love again. She was still young -- 37, which was young in her mind -- and she thought there could be someone for her.  
"Oh... what's this?" She walked over to the black-and-white television. On it was the Japanese channel they had gotten illegally from another tenant in the apartment complex. The news was recapping today's Angelic Layer events. She sighed dreamily -- Michigo Futori was a woman of many sighs -- and smiled as she was transported to her childhood, but a different childhood, in which Angelic Layer had already been created. She loved Angelic Layer, and felt giddy whenever it was mentioned. Although there were a lot of little kids in it, Michigo thought that was part of its charm. She wished she could do Angelic Layer.  
"Well... if Ken-chan wants to go back to Japan... maybe... maybe I could be in Angelic Layer! Be a child again!" She laughed merrily, played with the lights for a while, then went to sleep. She was snoring by the time Ken got home and turned off the TV.  
  
-*-  
  
That night, Ken dreamed he was in Japan again, facing a girl that he recognized but couldn't for the life of him name, in Angelic Layer. His Angel was so perfect, so fitting for his personality. He woke up at two in the morning, and began writing and drawing. His Angel would be a balanced type -- fair speed, fair strength -- wearing the American Punk Uniform - black long-sleeve Angel Shirt(he laughed at that. Angel Shirt, Angel Pants), white shirt with the symbol Gaku on it, and blue Angel Jeans(he had to cover his mouth so as not to wake his mother up with the laughing). Punk all the way. He grinned at the designs, making sure to hide them so his mother wouldn't find out his plans -- not yet, anyways.  
  
That night, Taisuke dreamed he was in Japan again, facing Ken. Teaching Ken. It was interrupted by a dream of temporarily scantily-clad women. That is all we shall hear of his dream, lest this receive an NC-17 rating.  
  
That night, Michigo dreamed of her father. She was five and he was tired in his business suit, and late as always. But this time, instead of saying "I have to go, honey," he said "alright, I'll stay." She had a doll in her hand. She knew that would be her Angel. Ironically, as a child she called that doll Angel, but she doesn't remember that -- it remains our secret, lost in time and recovered in writing.  
  
The dreams of Icchan-san is just WAY too weird for me to go into. Let's just say it involves noodles, carpet, and dirty parlor games, and leave it at that.  
  
-*-  
  
Somewhere in Japan, Ryouga was still lost.  
  
-*-  
  
"Good morning, mom." She was humming. This couldn't be good. "Umm... what's up?"  
Michigo laughed happily, and hugged Ken. "You're right, son. We should go back to Japan. This place is not helping us out at all. Pack your bags; I got a wire from my mom, so we have enough money to go buy tickets as soon as possible." This definitely could not be good.  
"Why the rush? I mean, I gotta say g'bye to everyone! It ain't cool to just ditch 'em like that!" She shook her head. "What?"  
"You should learn to speak properly in front of others." At that, they both burst into laughter. No way in hell was Gaku-chan going to change his language. They faded into normalcy at that point(give or take some seconds), and Ken ate his food, humming along with his mother. It was the happiest morning he'd had since he had gotten sick over a month ago. He had the Angel sketches in his back pocket. She had hers embedded in her memory.  
Breakfast took only ten more minutes, spent in music and taste, pleasing a multitude of senses at once. The new chance seemed to make the egg taste much better, the music not so off-key. Then, it was off to see if they could mooch some suitcases. But first, Ken went to the map on the wall, pulled the Chicago red pin and stuck it right next to the Sapporo pin. "There. Now we can go."  
  
-*-  
  
Taisuke stepped out of the screen door. "Bye mother, I am leaving to partake of many women!"  
His mom responded, in her own colloquial way: "Don't be late, dear!"  
  
-*-  
  
O'Hare was PACKED (this is many years after our horrible tragedy, mind you.). The Futori family, all two of them, were having an incredibly difficult time finding out where to go. Sure, it was gate 37M, but where WAS gate 37M? And why was the time on the ticket for 5 minutes from now? These questions were answered as an incredibly sexy voice declared on speakerphone, "next flight to Tokyo International from Japan Air is leaving in 5 minutes." That was great, but where was the first answer? "The new addition of the M gates is in the northwest corner of the complex." Thanks.  
It seemed that, since the inception of Angelic Layer, every airport had its own giggling gaggle of girls, and as much as Ken would have liked to spend some time with the older ones, the plane was about to leave, and Michigo would NOT allow his son to date. He was too sweet, too innocent!  
It's amazing how little parents know about their kids.  
The plane itself was incredibly spacious, surprisingly enough. There was enough room that Taisuke did not notice Ken or his mom enter or sit. So spacious, indeed, that when Ken began to play air-bass, Taisuke still did not notice. No; Taisuke, being the apparently one-dimensional character he is, was busy staring at the incredibly short hem line of the girl sitting next to him. But the plane was still spacious. Trust me.  
The plane ride was not so accommodating. Twice, they ran into extreme turbulence. And, since they were not leaving from the west coast, it took them considerable time to reach their destination. The pins-and-needles sensation was somehow masked by Ken's crude drawings. Taisuke had given him some lessons in anime-style drawing, but Ken actually preferred the more stylized animation of the Americans, particularly Batman. That show rox0red Ken's artistic world. But Ken would rather write bass tabs than draw. His nickname wasn't Gaku-chan for nothing. As a matter of fact, during the incredibly long plane ride, Ken began to devise a theme song for his Angel, which he still had yet to find a name for.  
Michigo spent most of the time sleeping. Being a young single mother had taken its toll on her. Shhh, she's sleeping. More dreams of her as a child, with Angel. A portent, perhaps, but maybe just the proof that the mind is smarter than it lets on.  
  
-*-  
  
Tokyo International Airport. A hub of commerce, intelligence, and most importantly, people. People who flock from all over for martial arts, anime, and Angelic Layer. But mostly anime. Because as any wise being will tell you, anime is great. But at that moment, Angelic Layer was the focus for 3 unique people, all related in some way, all destined to be Angelic Layer players. Good or bad, one cannot say.  
In softly-cushioned chairs and some uncomfortable stool, the mostly-responsible adults waited for their doll-riddled children, discussing how well their child's little toy fights, or about the Angelic Layer tournament itself and how their child will be the one to be the winner, or a select few on just the technological aspect of Angelic Layer -- the miracle that is a visor, reading a child's mind, can control a doll on a floating platform. Yes, nothing less than genius would be required for something so complex -- the mind is still very poorly understood, despite these advances in mechanical telepathy. Taisuke's Aunt, however, was apart from this crowd, wishing to have nothing to do with that display of barbarism. She wasn't what we'd call "social." Which is why, in a lot of ways, she despised her nephew.  
Taisuke was the penultimate ladies' man, tough, confident, but unfailingly sweet when you got to know him. He was a bit of a hentai, but that was just the result of having so many women after him. He could hardly be blamed for it. His aunt at least understood him -- but he loved Chicago so much. He said so whenever he called(at approximately 7:45 PM every Monday. Taisuke's Aunt thought his father was forcing him to, and rightly so. His mother didn't even care.). What caused him to suddenly change his mind? And to arrive so soon, and on his own; something was up, and Taisuke's Aunt would not have any of this rabble. No, whatever was going on, she'd put a stop to it, and send Taisuke back where he belonged, in the hood, with all those dirty American women.  
Taisuke's Aunt was kept waiting. Taisuke was held up by a store selling, amidst the excellent anime(he'd have to remember this store) and the music CDs, Angelic Layer.  
Michigo knew she shouldn't expect her mother here. She left America too early, and so they would have to find a hotel to sleep in for a couple days. Her mom had somehow managed to send them a lot of money, though, more than enough to get them started. Ken wandered off on his own, and Michigo decided to go find something related to Angelic Layer, maybe talk to some of the girls that she recognized from TV. She felt her heart beat like a rabbit, from what we cannot say, although common speculation would hold that it was joy.  
We all can tell where Ken wandered off to, having taken out his sheet of paper, and having spent time contemplating it.  
And this, my friends, is clearly the point where the story truly starts.  
  



	2. the SHOP and the HOME

Fanfiction - what a despicable thing. Hah!  
Angelic Layer  
  
Angelic Layer is copyright CLAMP. I don't use any of the characters, except in passing, but I guess they're copyright CLAMP too.  
  
  
the SHOP and the HOME: The Start of Something Beautiful, Perhaps.  
Fate likes playing these minor little jokes on select groups of people every once in a while. Fate is one strange mutha. When Ken saw Taisuke seeing Michigo, and turned around to see Michigo seeing Taisuke seeing Ken, they knew something was up. Oh, Fate, you're such a kidder!  
"I... um... I'm getting music CDs!" proclaimed Ken, through mouths full of paper.  
"I'm... in Japan... because... yo, I can be whereva I wanna be, beeyotch!" cried Taisuke. Oddly enough, that tactic worked. Michigo, the responsible parent, was not interested in Taisuke's whereabouts.  
"Ken! I've been looking all over for you!' Michigo proclaimed, her worried tone misconstrued from worry over being found out to worry over her child.  
He looked down, getting ready for the puppy-eyes. "I'm sorry, mother... it's just, there's so much music here..." he froze upon seeing a sheet of paper still in his hand. Oh, crap, was he in for it now.  
Upon seeing Ken seeing the paper, Michigo saw the paper too, and asked upon discovery at what it was. "N-n-n-n-n-nothing," Ken managed to stammer. Stammering increases ones suspicions, don't you know, and so Michigo snatched the paper with an "Aha!" attitude. Ken boiled where he was standing.  
Taisuke was somewhere else, pretending to be looking at wares on the bottom shelf when he was really looking up a girl's skirt.  
"Oh." She handed it back. "Why do you have your tabs with you? I thought you were looking to buy music, not sell it." Fate, as strange a mutha is it may be, is still a mutha nonetheless, and smiles upon its children. "Anyways, we have to go. It may take a while to find a good hotel. She pointed her responsible finger towards the door, and saw to it that Ken got out of the store. "You wait outside; I'll buy us some snacks to munch on." He nodded, sulking towards the door. A man in a white technician's coat passed by him, laughing insanely.  
"Y'know," muttered Ken to himself, "as nice as Japan is, there sure are some strange people here." But this remark was heard by neither the laughing man nor his mom, nor the laughing man's mom for that matter. The laughing man's mom was somewhere else, and so was Ken's mom, having wandered to the Angelic Layer aisle.  
"Oh, hi Taisuke." She seemed distracted. Taisuke nodded, still crouched. "Why are YOU in the Angelic Layer aisle?"  
"Looking up girl's skirts, yo." Well, he wasn't exactly LYING...  
"Could you do me a favor?" Taisuke nodded. "Could you buy me an Angel Egg?"  
"Why, Miss Futori, why on Earth would you want one of those?" Miss Futori sighed one of her slightly annoyed sighs. She had spoken English for so long, Japanese was beginning to bug her a little.  
"Because I want to fight in Angelic Layer." She clasped her hands, looked up to the sky, and her eyes shined in an apparent beam of light. "I want to be a kid again, to fulfill my dreams."  
"I see." Taisuke laughed. This was certainly going to make for an interesting future. Angelic Layer triangle. So much better than a love triangle. In Taisuke's own wise way(for, although a pervert and one-dimensional as he may be, Taisuke was certainly wise, in a cunning sort of way), he neglected to mention Ken's or his own interest in Angelic Layer. "Why do you wish that I buy it? Shouldn't you buy that on your own?" Taisuke was meaner than Fate, and spoke Japanese so elegantly when you heard him speak English, you could confuse him as two people just in syntax and grammar.  
"I'm kind of in a debt. Please, I'll repay you as soon as I win some money from it."  
"Alright, Miss Futori. I shall buy you an Angel Egg. But, keep it a secret from Ken-kun please." She nodded; heck, it was what she was planning to do anyways. "I'll be staying at my aunt's house. You remember where that is, right?" Michigo sighed reluctantly; she didn't like Taisuke's aunt. She was a real bitch, to be blunt about it. "pick it up there when you have the time."  
Michigo laughed, and ran out happily. Ken stopped her, asking about the food. She forgot about it. But that was okay. They needed to find a hotel first.  
  
-*-  
  
Taisuke's Aunt yelled as someone wearing a yellow bandana knocked into her. "You darn fool! Watch where you're going!"  
Ryouga stopped. "Sorry!" he called. "I'm lost! Can you tell me where Kemuro is?" Taisuke's Aunt blinked. There? That was on the far tip of the farthest island from here! She shook her head. Some people.  
  
-*-  
  
With the morning came the sun, and with the sun came screams of pain as Ken awoke to a sensation very much like having your back lacerated, then salted. Suffice it to say, the hotel room sucked. Sucked it hard. The bed was the equivalent of the ground, if not worse. But his mom, being the mom that she is, made him sleep on the bed. Ken honestly believed that all parents subconsciously(and sometimes consciously) wanted to kill their kids.  
Michigo awoke from a nice, long, sleep. She had her own room, which cost a lot more, and was a lot more hospitable. Maybe Ken was right, but Michigo had no idea at the poor state of Ken's room, so maybe he wasn't. Either way, it worked out: this way, she could get and set up her Angel without any hassle and without Ken discovering it. Plus, Gaku-chan had brought his Fender P-Bass. And he liked privacy when he was practicing. So it worked out. Except for monetarily. She had to get a job as soon as possible; yes, you could win things in Angelic Layer, but usually not for starting competitions, and she wasn't naturally very violent, so odds were quite fair that she'd do poorly.  
Ken got dressed, went into his mother's room, and told her he was going to go get some food to eat. He had gotten an advance on his paycheck right before they left for Japan, and so he had some money to eat. Or something like that; that's all Michigo could understand; the bed was too comfortable, and was beckoning for her to fall back to sleep. But she had to go to... *shudder* Taisuke's Aunt's house. So she said okay, and Ken left.  
Ken, as you may have already been able to determine, was not going to eat. He was a very light eater, anyways. No, he was going to buy himself an Angel Egg.  
  
-*-  
  
"Oh, be quiet, you old hag!" Taisuke's Aunt threw another priceless vase at him, this one knocking him straight on. He fell back, crashing and destroying the table.  
"You broke my table, you dirty child!" She ran up to Taisuke, and began kicking him.  
"Gaah..."(Gaah has no translation between Japanese and English, and thus is not required.). Taisuke's world was spinning. It was like that time he got high behind the fast food joint. Not really pleasant; just disorienting. "Aunt! Please, stop!" She did, surprisingly enough, stop, although the reason was not Taisuke's begging. The doorbell had rung. She spun violently, and opened the door to find Michigo sighing apprehensively.  
"Oh. It's you. That Ken's mother. Bad influence on Taisuke." Michigo's eye twitched. "What do you want?"  
Michigo gave a short sigh, then began: "Taisuke has something for m--for Ken, and I'm here to pick it up." Taisuke's Aunt looked Michigo Futori up and down, as if trying to see a flaw in her statement that would allow Taisuke's Aunt to close the door, but, as anyone knows, flaws cannot be seen, but rather heard. and Taisuke's Aunt had horrible hearing. So she let him in.  
"Taisuke! Where's the thing for me?" She knew Taisuke's Aunt didn't speak English.  
"God, my aunt is a real bitch. Hold on..." he got up, and brushed broken pieces of vase(pronounced vahz) from his shoulders. It was only a matter of seconds before he was handing an ominous looking shopping bag to Michigo. Michigo left before Taisuke's Aunt could grab the bag from her and look inside. She'd say something stupid about how her son was disgraceful to the Futori family name (not that it was an important name in the first place. Everyone in the Kaneda family was just stuck up like that.).  
  
-*-  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
-*-  
  
Ken pushed through yet another crowd of 13 year old girls and finally found that most important of Angelic Layer boxes, the Angel Egg. This egg contains the basic body of an Angel; it is up to the designer, fighter, creator, whatever, to give it a soul. Ken's soul was that of American punk, and today, he looked the part. He was wearing the American Punk Uniform that he wanted to put on his Angel(save with a light gray Weezer shirt instead of a shirt with Gaku on it), and was wearing his bass strapped to his back. In Japan, in the cities, that kind of thing was okay: you could wear whatever you wanted and could get away with it. He thought it looked cool on him. In fact, as he picked up the box and analyzed it, he heard a girl in the crowd scream "Aa! sugoi desu ne!" Hold on while we fix the translator...  
waiting...  
waiting...  
Click!  
"I'd love to fight him..." He took a note from his mother and sighed. Why couldn't that happen for girls more his own age? He grabbed some other things he thought he'd need, and paid for them. The guy that sold him the Angelic Layer stuff gave Ken a very strange look. A very strange look indeed... the fact that he paid with American bills didn't help. He got out of there in a hurry.  
  
-*-  
  
"Maybe I don't fit in here. I mean, look at all those prepubescent girls. It was kinda scary. I feel like a member of the Backstreet Boys... it's awfully strange. Why does society work like this? Why are there all these problems with age and gender when it deals to relationships? Why do masculine things have to be relegated to guys, and feminine things only for the girls? It makes no sense.  
Come to think of it, why am I even doing this anyways? I remember something about needing money, but somehow, grandma managed to give them enough money to buy a middle-class house. I know mom was lying when she said grandma only gave us enough money to start with. Hell, I stole some of it, I should know. But I still want to do this; I doubt myself, but I continue on. I sound like Courage the Cowardly Dog. Christ.  
Maybe it's because I'm too much of an American. I should embrace my Japanese heritage more; they don't care about it.  
Oh! I know why! It looks like it would be fun!" Ken nodded to himself.  
End Monologue.  
  
-*-  
  
Taisuke shook his head at the directions on the box. "The hell iz this? Open it in the toilet? Sick. Oh well." He started a bath, and got in, opening the Angel Egg he had secreted in his room earlier, next to the fat bag. "Heh heh heh." He opened the egg, and shuddered involuntarily. It reminded him slightly of Chucky, the evil doll. But not so scary, because it was just... blank. He'd have to create something from his own mind. Naturally, he chose a male model; he wasn't like those creepy role-player people who always played someone of the opposite sex. Something seemed wrong about that.  
Regardless, after he opened it, it wasn't that intimidating. He finished his bath, got dressed, and set the rest of the stuff on his dresser. His Aunt yelled at him, but she couldn't enter the room. He'd already set up a chair under the knob. He looked at the miniature computer screen.  
"All this technology... the sheer propensity of it is amazing. But, that is not really the matter now, is it? No, I believe I should just focus on creating my Angel." There was the basic variety of stats; strength, speed, agility, endurance, so on and so forth. He decided fairly high strength and high agility, but a little low endurance and speed. Basically, his Angel was focused on technique. It worked like this: he did not have high speed, but his agility would be enough to dodge, and he could use his awesome style to do counter-attacks which, because of his strength, would deal some great damage. He grinned, and looked at the scissors, wig, and clothing next to him. He always fancied himself one of the creative types. But first, the matter of a name... what to name it, what to name it...  
what, oh what, should he name it...  
What would be the best name...  
For God's sake, what should he name it?!  
He should name it... ummm... well, names are very important, so it is quite difficult to decide what to name. Yes, then it hit him. He would name it Kaito -- Ka from the symbols for wise, and ito from Hito, or person. Now that that was done, he would make the clothing and decide the hair.  
Let's come back to him later, okay? It may save several pages.  
  
-*-  
  
Ken wasn't as perturbed by the fact that it had to be opened in the bath, but he was certainly surprised when he opened the egg to find a girl doll staring back at him with non-existent eyes. "Kuso! I must have not paid attention to what was on the box! Crap!" He wanted a male, to better represent himself. Now people would think he was gay -- not that there was anything wrong with that, Ken added in his mind. He just wasn't that. No, his teacher was Taisuke, so he was flamingly heterosexual. But... augh. It just didn't seem right.  
His stats were not balanced, he had higher endurance, much lower strength, average agility, and higher speed. But the changes were almost negligible. The concept behind HIS Angel was this: he would block a lot of attacks, hence the higher endurance, and since his strength was lower, he'd put a lot of speed behind his attacks, so they would still deal damage. What happened to his concept of a perfectly balanced fighter, you ask? Well, upon playing King of Fighters '98 at an arcade, he realized the balanced character usually sucked. That's pretty much it.  
He already had his -- er, her -- clothes made, and Ken prayed they'd fit her well. For a name, he used Panka - Punker in kana. It was pretty basic. The tough part, though, was writing an entire song just for bass. He'd done it before, but now the ability abandoned him.  
  
-*-  
  
Michigo danced in the nude around her hotel, and regretted it in the instant she realized her windows were open and the blinds, likewise, open. After that situation was remedied, she placed the Angel down in its tube, and began typing furiously. Straight speed, straight agility. She had watched enough to know those kind of Angels were the ones that got the farthest in the tournaments.  
For clothing, she had bought the really-high tech looking stuff, like that new girl, Hikaru, but less gauche. She had a little headset, which was similar save for it had cat ears, and similar gloves, but instead her Angel had a cheetah motif, and the body didn't have that weird screw thing in the middle. Also, her hair was long and black.  
For a name, she was torn between two: Shibusa(which just sounded nice), and Gaku. Gaku could be interpreted as either school, or music. In the end, she chose Gaku, in honor of her son.  
  
-*-  
  
As we know, Fate is one strange mutha. And so fate decided to play Mirrors with these 3 people, cast to simultaneous fates, and so they turned on their TVs at nearly the same exact time(scientists have calculated it that the difference between the first person to do that, Ken, and the last person, Taisuke, was .04 seconds), and miraculously it was on the same channel, showing the same news show, which was talking about the same local tournament, with the same cash prize of 325 thousand yen. That was over 2000 dollars! This was clearly a big tournament, and so, at the same exact time, all 3 decided to enter the tournament.  
Oh, Fate, you so cuh-razy! 


End file.
